Dathan Ritzenhein celebrates after finishing third in the men’s 10,000 meters to qualify for his third U.S. Olympic team at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on Friday, June 22, 2012. (Daniel Petty, Denver Post file)

Former University of Colorado distance runner Dathan Ritzenhein withdrew from the Boston Marathon on Monday, saying a groin injury had kept him from training and preparing for the race.

“April 21st will be a show of strength and community after last year’s events and I wanted so badly to be part of that,” Ritzenhein said in a release from race organizers. “But I am resilient and will be back.”

Ryan Hall and Abdi Abdirahman will run in Ritzenhein’s and Moses Mosop’s place. Boulder-based runner Jason Hartmann, who has finished as the top American the last two years in fourth place each time, will also be racing in Boston on April 21.

Ritzenhein, who runs for the Portland, Ore.-based Nike Oregon Project, is coached by Alberto Salazar, winner of the 1980 New York City Marathon and former American record holder at 5,000 and 10,000 meters. He finished third in the 10,000 meters at the 2012 Olympic Trials to make his third Olympic team.

Another of Salazar’s runners, Mary Cain, the 17-year-old Bronxville, N.Y., high school phenom who won the 1,500 at the U.S. Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., has pulled out of the IAAF World Indoor Track & Field Championships in Poland, citing a calf injury.

With the Eastern Seaboard reeling from the effects of Hurricane Sandy and airline schedules disrupted in much of the country because of the storm, New York City Marathon organizers have not decided whether Sunday’s race will be run.

Here is a statement from Mary Wittenberg, CEO of the New York Road Runners and the marathon’s race director:

“This is a very challenging time for the people and City of New York. The City is rightfully focused on assessment, restoration and recovery. At NYRR, we stand with our City agency partners and support their efforts.

“The Marathon has always been a special day for New Yorkers as a symbol of the vitality and resiliency of this City. NYRR continues to move ahead with its planning and preparation. We will keep all options open with regard to making any accommodations and adjustments necessary to race day and race weekend events.

“We will provide an update and more detail as information becomes available.”

Chilean miner Edison Pena crosses the finish line of the New York City Marathon in New York on Nov. 7, 2010. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

They say if you’ve lost faith in human nature, go watch a marathon. Sunday’s New York City Marathon offered one of the best reasons ever.

You probably know one of the rescued Chilean miners ran the race. Edison Pena had run three to six miles a day in the shafts of the mine while waiting to be rescued, and when NYC Marathon organizers heard about his story, they invited him to be their guest at this year’s race.

That wasn’t enough for Pena, who decided to run despite some knee problems. Thus the riveting image on Sunday’s NBC coverage of the race, showing Pena walking up First Avenue with ice bags on both knees. Yet he still managed to finish in five hours, 40 minutes, 51 seconds.

“First of all, I want to say that I would have run faster,” Pena is quoted in a great New York Times blog on his inspiring performance. “And I did run faster in the mine.”

Now I hope an orthopedist steps forward to fix his knee problems. I’d bet good money that will happen.

Pena is a great example of why marathoners love what they do, and why there is nothing like running a big one such as the NYCM, my favorite. I’ve run New York three times and covered it once. I never cease to be amazed at the inspiration it always offers, to runners and non-runners alike. I just wish I could have been there Sunday.

ALSO WORTH NOTING: The women’s winner, Edna Kiplagat of Kenya, trained in Boulder the past five months. And two former CU runners, finished well in the men’s race: Dathan Ritzenhein, eighth, and Jorge Torres, 11th. Michele Suszek of Lyons, profiled in last week’s Denver Post, finished 34th in the women’s standings.